2018 VFL Women's season

2018 VFL Women's season
Hawthorn and Geelong Cats in the Grand Final
Teams	13
Premiers	Hawthorn 1st premiership
Minor premiers	Collingwood 1st minor premiership
Best and fairest	Jess Duffin Williamstown (23 votes)[1]
Leading goalkicker	Darcy Vescio Carlton (26 goals)[2]

Northern Territory and Geelong Cats in the second semi-final at North Port Oval

The 2018 VFL Women's season was the third season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 5 May and concluded with the Grand Final on 23 September 2018. The competition was contested by thirteen clubs.

Clubs

Significant overhaul and changes were made to composition of the competition ahead of the 2018 season. With the establishment of the national AFL Women's competition in 2017, the league sought to affiliate clubs more closely to existing AFL/AFLW clubs.^[3] Consequently five foundation clubs departed; leaving Darebin, Melbourne University and VU Western Spurs (who were taken over by and renamed the Western Bulldogs to align with the AFL club) as the remaining clubs. The departing clubs were replaced by the AFL-aligned Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond and Southern Saints, the VFL-aligned Casey and Williamstown, and the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL)-aligned Northern Territory;^[4] Northern Territory aligned with Adelaide's AFLW team, giving Crows players an opportunity to play in the Victorian competition.^[5] The thirteen clubs were as follows:

• Darebin, Williamstown, Casey, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon, Geelong Cats, Richmond
• Western Bulldogs, Northern Territory, Carlton, Melbourne University, Southern Saints

Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts	Qualification
1	Collingwood	14	12	1	1	607	328	185.1	50	Finals series
2	Hawthorn (P)	14	12	2	0	596	332	179.5	48
3	Northern Territory	14	11	3	0	831	430	193.3	44
4	Geelong Cats	14	10	3	1	599	367	163.2	42
5	Darebin	14	8	6	0	527	481	109.6	32
6	Western Bulldogs	14	7	7	0	494	589	83.9	28
7	Carlton	14	6	8	0	562	536	104.9	24
8	Southern Saints	14	5	9	0	439	475	92.4	20
9	Melbourne University	14	5	9	0	455	585	77.8	20
10	Casey	14	5	9	0	414	594	69.7	20
11	Williamstown	14	4	10	0	473	676	70.0	16
12	Richmond	14	4	10	0	358	521	68.7	16
13	Essendon	14	1	13	0	292	733	39.8	4

Source: SportsTG
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals series

Semi-finals

	First Semi Final
Saturday 8 September (10:15 am)	Collingwood 3.3 (21)	def. by	Hawthorn 5.2 (32)	ETU Stadium	[6]

	Second Semi Final
Sunday 9 September (11:45 am)	NT Thunder 6.6 (42)	def. by	Geelong Cats 7.9 (51)	ETU Stadium	[7]

Preliminary final

	Preliminary Final
Sunday 16 September (11:45 am)	Collingwood 4.4 (28)	def. by	Geelong Cats 5.12 (42)	ETU Stadium	[8]

Grand Final

	2018 VFLW Grand Final
Sunday 23 September (12:30 pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Geelong Cats	Marvel Stadium	[9][10]
	1.3 (9) 2.6 (18) 3.6 (24) 4.6 (30)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	1.1 (7) 1.1 (7) 1.5 (11) 2.7 (19)	Lisa Hardeman Medal: Chantella Perera (Hawthorn) Television broadcast: Seven Network
S. Perkins, T. Luke, E. Mackie, E. Gilder 1		Goals	M. Boyd, K. Darby 1
C. Perera, P. McWilliams, M. Hutchins, R. Beeson, T. Luke, J. Van Dyk		Best	H. Burchell, N. Morrison, M. McMahon, M. Keryk, C. Blakeway, O. Purcell

Awards

• Lambert-Pearce Medal (Best and Fairest): Jess Duffin (Williamstown) – 23 votes^[11]
• Rohenna Young Medal (Leading Goal kicker): Darcy Vescio (Carlton) – 26 goals
• Debbie Lee Medal (Rising Star): Jayde Van Dyk (Hawthorn)
• Coach of the Year: Penny Cula-Reid (Collingwood)^[12]
• Lisa Hardeman Medal (Best on ground VFL Women's Grand Final): Chantella Perera (Hawthorn)

2018 VFL Women's Team of the Year^[13]

B:	Jayde Van Dyk (Hawthorn)	Rebecca Goring (Geelong)	Kate Gillespie-Jones (Melbourne Uni)
HB:	Ashleigh Riddell (Melbourne Uni)	Meg McDonald (Darebin)	Bianca Jakobsson (Casey)
C:	Alison Drennan (Southern Saints)	Jess Duffin (Williamstown)	Rebecca Beeson (Hawthorn)
HF:	Sarah D'Arcy (Collingwood)	Jasmine Garner (Williamstown)	Jess Sedunary (NT Thunder)
F:	Hayley Bullas (Essendon)	Darcy Vescio (Carlton)	Mia-Rae Clifford (Geelong)
Foll:	Rhiannon Watt (Southern Saints)	Richelle Cranston (Geelong)	Ange Foley (NT Thunder)
Int:	Emma Swanson (NT Thunder)	Sophie Alexander (Collingwood)	Alice Edmonds (Richmond)
	Libby Birch (Western Bulldogs)	Lauren Pearce (Darebin)	Emma Mackie (Hawthorn)
Coach:	Penny Cula-Reid (Collingwood)

References

1. "Duffin wins Lambert–Pearce Medal". vfl.com.au. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
2. "VFL Women's Honours". VFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
3. Olle, Sarah (11 October 2017). "Five AFL clubs granted VFLW licences for 2018 — the starting blocks for a revamped competition". foxsports.com.au. News Corporation Australia. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
4. "Three clubs depart in revamped VFLW comp". afl.com.au. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
5. "Thunder rolls into VFL Women's in 2018". AFL Northern Territory. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
6. "Match Report (First Semi Final)". SportsTG.
7. "Match Report (Second Semi Final)". SportsTG.
8. "Match Report (Preliminary Final)". SportsTG.
9. "Match Report (2018 VFLW Grand Final)". SportsTG.
10. "REVIEW: VFL Women's Grand Final". vfl.com.au. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
11. Balmer, Matt (10 September 2018). "VFL JJ Liston Trophy 2018: Anthony Miles claims top gong alongside draft chance Michael Gibbons". foxsports.com.au. News Corporation Australia. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
12. Black, Sarah (10 September 2018). "AFLW: Duffin takes out top VFLW honour". afl.com.au. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
13. "VFL W TEAM OF THE YEAR". Victorian Football League. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2021.